Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Don't trust anyone over 30

This is one of those vintage B-movie DVD pairings, and these two were combined because their plots involve the adult generation either dying off through a killer gas, or being hauled off to prison camps by the ruling young, where they are kept under control through LSD in the water supply. They are both absolutely silly, extremely dated, and both intentionally and (mostly) unintentionally funny.

These came out a few years before the more well-known and well-done movie with this theme came along: Logan’s Run (1976).

Both movies feature actors, some famous and some who got a lot more famous later but not sure if these appearances were stepping stones or hindrances. In WITS, the famous ones are Shelley Winters and Ed Begley. Just barely getting started in movies were Hal Holbrook and Richard Pryor. The movie is also loaded with uncredited cameos. The star, Christopher Jones ("Max Frost"), had a real James Dean quality. He was a rising star for awhile but then dropped out of the Hollywood scene - then turned down a comeback opportunity in the form of the character 'Zed' in Pulp Fiction. Frost and his movie entourage all wore these identical teardrop peace necklaces, and it was kind of weird for me because when my Mother and I took one of our odd little vacations to the Sunset Strip/Hollywood in 1967, I got a very similar design (pictured) at a boutique on the Strip. I still wear it.

Wild in the Streets trailer:

Gas-s-s-s (alt-title: Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.)
All the way on the left there is Cindy Williams, and from the right there's Ben Vereen, Tally Coppola (later known as Talia Shire) and Bud Cort ('Harold & Maude'). I enjoyed seeing a performance from Country Joe and the Fish in this one. I liked that band and got to see them up close in 1968. No deep thought required for watching this movie. Sil.li.ness.

I think it's safe to conclude that the under-25 crowd aren't really capable of running things better than their parents' generation. I also think that this same generation of Baby Boomers (m-m-m-my g-g-generation) isn't so hot at governing now that they've grown up, either. {sigh}

7 comments:

Fell head over heels for Christopher Jones. I had a poster of him, shirtless, over my bed in my college dorm room. Him & Jim Morrison. Oh, my. Love your reworking of the more things change....INSANE, YES!

Off topic: thanks to YOU, Blueberry for introducing me to the music of Stephen Bruton. Because of that, I enjoyed this interview even more than I otherwise would have: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/12/139544030/jeff-bridges-an-on-screen-country-singer-enters-the-studio

OT, no problem at all. Jeff Bridges was just in our town yesterday and did a TV taping for (PBS) Austin City Limits. We did not win the ticket lottery so didn't go, but word tells that he gives a nice nod to Bruton in the show. :-)